The 5 best moments from Kobe and Shaq's TNT interview

Jordan Heck

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The 5 best moments from Kobe and Shaq's TNT interview image

The relationship between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant will forever be remembered throughout NBA history. Two of the greatest players to ever pair up won three titles together with the Lakers and then separated due to personal issues.

The two Lakers icons got together for a special interview on TNT. The conversation aired Saturday night before the All-Star festivities, and while nothing groundbreaking was revealed, a lot of fun stories were shared by the dynamic duo.

MORE: Kobe Bryant's 81-point game told in five videos

Below are some of the highlights from the chat.

Kobe on his first fight with Shaq

“We were playing a pick-up game, it was during the lockout season [1998-1999]. Southwest College, we were playing a pickup game.  We were on opposite teams, and trash-talking. And you kept saying ‘yeah, take that little [expletive]. Take that little [expletive].’ I’m looking around, ‘oh [expletive], he’s talking to me.’ I said ‘well hold on, ain’t going to be too many more of those ‘little [expletives].’ And what’d you say? ‘Well what you going to to about it?’ The next thing I knew I saw a big hand coming this way, and I remember going this way."

Shaq and Kobe mooned Kings fans

This story takes place during the 2002 NBA playoffs after the Lakers won Game 7 by a final of 112-106 in ARCO Arena. According to Shaq, fans in Sacramento were already mooning them, so the players just reacted by paying the favor back.

As Kobe points out, this story would have been viewed differently had it happened today. Lucky for them, there were no camera phones back then. 

Kobe gave MVP trophy to Shaq's son Shareef

This was the most emotional moment from the interview as Shaq sincerely apologized to Bryant. It was a touching scene, but then Shaq joked, “I’ll give you an apology, but we ain’t gonna be doing that crying like Magic and Isiah."

(You can watch the emotional exchange between Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas here.)

Kobe thought about joining the Bulls

There have been reports about Bryant wanting to join the Bulls, and the Lakers star even admitted to it not that long ago. But his admission was about demanding a trade from the Lakers in 2007.

In this context, Kobe is talking about wanting to split from Shaq, knowing their relationship can't last much longer. Bryant was thinking about Chicago several times throughout his career, which is an interesting anecdote in NBA history.

Kobe loved the "tell me how my ass taste" rap

One of the greatest raps ever.

Jordan Heck

Jordan Heck Photo

Jordan Heck is a Social Media Producer at Sporting News. Before working here, he was a Digital Content Producer at The Indianapolis Star. He graduated with a degree from Indiana University.